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glam/docs/isil_search_latin_america.md
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2025-11-19 23:25:22 +01:00

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ISIL Registry Research: Brazil, Mexico, Chile

Date: 2025-11-06
Context: Investigating ISIL (International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations) availability for the 304 Latin American institutions in our combined dataset.

Current State

Finding: None of the 304 Latin American institutions currently have ISIL codes in the dataset.

  • Brazilian institutions: 97 (0 with ISIL codes)
  • Chilean institutions: 90 (0 with ISIL codes)
  • Mexican institutions: 117 (0 with ISIL codes)

What is ISIL?

ISO 15511:2019: International standard identifier for libraries and related organizations (ISIL)

  • Purpose: Unique identification of libraries, archives, museums, and related organizations
  • Format: Country code (2 letters) + hyphen + local identifier (e.g., NL-AsdRM for Rijksmuseum)
  • Scope: Global standard managed by ISO TC 46/SC 4 (Technical interoperability)
  • Maintained by: National registration agencies in each country
  • Last updated: 2019-06 (Edition 4, confirmed 2024)

ISIL in the Netherlands (for reference)

Our Dutch dataset has excellent ISIL coverage:

  • ISIL Registry: 364 institutions with assigned codes
  • Format: NL-{CityCode}{OrgCode} (e.g., NL-AsdAM = Amsterdam Museum)
  • Registry: Maintained by Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen (Denmark) - though the original Danish ISIL site appears to be offline
  • Integration: 340/364 Dutch institutions cross-linked with organizational registry (92.1% overlap)

ISIL Status by Country

Brazil

Country Code: BR

Expected ISIL Format: BR-{identifier}

National Registration Agency: Unknown (requires investigation)

Known ISIL Examples (from ISO documentation):

  • BR-RjBN - Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil (National Library of Brazil) - CONFIRMED via VIAF

Research Needed:

  1. Identify Brazil's ISIL registration agency
  2. Check if a public ISIL registry exists
  3. Contact Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil or IBICT (Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia)

Resources to Check:

Mexico

Country Code: MX

Expected ISIL Format: MX-{identifier}

National Registration Agency: Unknown (requires investigation)

Research Needed:

  1. Contact Biblioteca Nacional de México
  2. Check CONACULTA (Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes)
  3. Investigate if Mexico participates in ISIL system

Resources to Check:

Chile

Country Code: CL

Expected ISIL Format: CL-{identifier}

National Registration Agency: Unknown (requires investigation)

Research Needed:

  1. Contact Biblioteca Nacional de Chile
  2. Check Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos (DIBAM) - now Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural
  3. Investigate if Chile participates in ISIL system

Resources to Check:

Global ISIL Resources

Primary Resources

  1. ISO 15511:2019 Standard:

  2. ISIL International Centre:

    • Formerly: Denmark (slks.dk/isil/) - now offline
    • New location: Unknown (requires investigation)

  3. Library of Congress ISIL Search:

  4. OCLC ISIL Integration:

    • OCLC may maintain ISIL records
    • Check WorldCat organization registry

Secondary Resources

  1. VIAF (Virtual International Authority File):

    • Many VIAF records include ISIL codes
    • URL: https://viaf.org/
    • Example: Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil has VIAF 123556639 with ISIL reference

  2. Wikidata:

    • Some institution records include ISIL codes
    • Property: P791 (ISIL)
    • Can be queried via SPARQL

  3. National Library Websites:

    • Some countries publish ISIL directories
    • Often found in technical services or cataloging departments

Data Enrichment Strategy

Phase 1: Identify Registration Agencies (Immediate)

Action: Purchase or access ISO 15511:2019 to obtain list of national ISIL registration agencies

Deliverable: Contact information for BR, MX, CL registration agencies

Phase 2: Query Existing Datasets (Immediate)

VIAF Enrichment:

# For each institution with VIAF ID, check if VIAF record includes ISIL
# Example: Institution "Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil" → VIAF 123556639 → ISIL BR-RjBN

Wikidata SPARQL Query:

SELECT ?org ?orgLabel ?isil WHERE {
  ?org wdt:P17 wd:Q155 .  # Country: Brazil (Q155)
  ?org wdt:P791 ?isil .   # Has ISIL property
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en,pt". }
}

Run similar queries for Mexico (Q96) and Chile (Q298).

Phase 3: Contact National Agencies (Medium-term)

Outreach Template:

Subject: Request for ISIL Code Directory - Academic Research Project

Dear [National Library/Registration Agency],

I am working on the Global GLAM Dataset project, documenting heritage institutions
across 60+ countries. We have extracted data on [X] institutions in [Country] from
archival research conversations.

Questions:
1. Does [Country] maintain a public ISIL registry?
2. If so, is it available for download or via API?
3. Who is the designated ISIL registration agency for [Country]?
4. Can our research project access ISIL codes for data enrichment?

Our project uses LinkML schema and publishes open data under CC-BY 4.0.

Thank you for your assistance.

Targets:

  • Brazil: IBICT, Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil
  • Mexico: Biblioteca Nacional de México, Secretaría de Cultura
  • Chile: Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural

Phase 4: Manual Assignment (If No Registry)

Fallback Strategy (if countries lack ISIL registries):

  1. Use alternative identifiers (Wikidata QID, VIAF ID) as primary
  2. Document absence of ISIL codes in Provenance.notes
  3. Consider proposing ISIL codes (unofficial) for internal linking

Format: BR-Unofficial-{CityCode}{OrgCode}
Example: BR-Unofficial-RioMusArte (Museu de Arte do Rio)

Provenance:

identifiers:
  - identifier_scheme: "ISIL (Unofficial)"
    identifier_value: "BR-Unofficial-RioMusArte"
    notes: "Unofficial ISIL code generated for internal use. Brazil lacks public ISIL registry as of 2025-11."

Expected Outcomes

Best Case Scenario

  • Brazil, Mexico, Chile have active ISIL registration agencies
  • Public registries available for download (CSV, XML, API)
  • ~50-70% of our 304 institutions already have assigned ISIL codes
  • Can cross-link and enrich dataset with authoritative identifiers

Realistic Scenario

  • Brazil has ISIL agency but limited public registry (<30% coverage)
  • Mexico/Chile have partial or no ISIL participation
  • Manual enrichment via VIAF/Wikidata yields 20-40 codes
  • Remaining institutions documented as lacking ISIL

Worst Case Scenario

  • No public ISIL registries for BR/MX/CL
  • National agencies non-responsive or non-existent
  • Rely entirely on VIAF/Wikidata for sparse coverage (<10%)
  • Document gap in identifier ecosystem for Latin America

Next Actions

Priority 1: Automated Enrichment (This Week)

  • Query Wikidata for ISIL codes (BR, MX, CL institutions)
  • Cross-reference VIAF IDs in dataset to extract ISIL codes
  • Update latin_american_institutions.yaml with found codes

Priority 2: Research & Outreach (Next 2 Weeks)

  • Locate ISO 15511:2019 registration agency list (library access or purchase)
  • Contact national libraries/archives in BR, MX, CL
  • Search for existing ISIL directories online

Priority 3: Documentation (Ongoing)

  • Document findings in PROGRESS.md
  • Update AGENTS.md with ISIL enrichment instructions
  • Create reusable scripts for ISIL lookup (Wikidata, VIAF)

References

  1. ISO 15511:2019 - Information and documentation — International standard identifier for libraries and related organizations (ISIL)

  2. Dutch ISIL Registry (reference model)

    • File: data/ISIL-codes_2025-08-01.csv
    • Coverage: 364 institutions
    • Format: NL-{code}

  3. VIAF (Virtual International Authority File)

  4. Wikidata ISIL Property

Status: Research in progress
Last Updated: 2025-11-06
Next Review: After Wikidata/VIAF enrichment completed